Abdullah al-Sallal

Abdullah al-Sallal
Al-Sallal in 1963
1st President of Yemen Arab Republic
In office 26 September 1962 – 5 November 1967
Prime Minister	Himself Abdul Latif Dayfallah Abdul Rahman al-Iryani Hassan al-Amri Hamoud al-Gayifi Hassan al-Amri Ahmad Muhammad Numan Hassan al-Amri
Preceded by	Position established (Muhammad al-Badr as King and Imam of Yemen)
Succeeded by	Abdul Rahman al-Eryani
Prime Minister of Yemen Arab Republic
In office 28 September 1962 – 26 April 1963
President	Himself
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Abdul Latif Dayfallah
In office 6 July 1965 – 21 July 1965
President	Himself
Preceded by	Ahmad Muhammad Numan
Succeeded by	Hassan al-Amri
In office 18 September 1966 – 5 November 1967
President	Himself
Preceded by	Hassan al-Amri
Succeeded by	Mohsin Ahmad al-Aini
Personal details
Born	(1917-01-09)9 January 1917 Sanaa, Yemen Vilayet, Ottoman Empire
Died	5 March 1994(1994-03-05) (aged 77) Sanaa, Yemen
Political party	None (Military)
Military service
Allegiance	Kingdom of Yemen (1939–1962) North Yemen (1962–1990) Yemen (1990–1994)
Branch/service	North Yemeni Army
Years of service	1939–1994
Rank	Field Marshal
Battles/wars	Al-Waziri coup North Yemen Civil War

Abdullah Yahya al-Sallal (Arabic: عبد الله يحيى السلال, romanized: ʿAbd Allāh Yaḥyā al-Sallāl; 9 January 1917 – 5 March 1994) was a Yemeni military officer who was the leader of the North Yemeni Revolution of 1962 and served as the first President of the Yemen Arab Republic from 27 September 1962 until his removal on 5 November 1967. It was his government that abolished slavery in Yemen.

Early life

Al-Sallal was born in the village of Sha'asan, Sanhan district, in Sanaa Governorate. His father died when he was young. Al-Sallal was sent to the only orphanage in Sanaa, known as the Orphan School, which later became famous for raising many of Yemen's greatest patriots and some of the most influential politicians of that era.

In the late 1930s, he completed his military education in Baghdad, Iraq. He became a second lieutenant at this time.

Though not a member of the social elite in Yemen, Al-Sallal was widely respected by the military community as a competent and brazen officer despite being the son of a butcher, a profession looked down upon prior to the revolution.

Political career

Abdullah al-Sallal in his Mutawakkilite army uniform

Abdullah al-Sallal in a military display, March 1963

Al-Sallal with Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser in a joint meeting, July 1964

Al-Sallal led the revolutionary forces that deposed King Muhammad al-Badr and brought the Kingdom of Yemen to an end. He presided over the newly founded Yemen Arab Republic (YAR), with close ties to Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt which served as the Yemen Arab Republic's strongest ally in the war against the Saudi Arabian-backed royalists that lasted into 1970.

Yemen's President Abdullah al-Sallal negotiated with tribal leaders after the revolution to help cement the republic. He was later ousted in a bloodless coup led by Abdul Rahman Al-Iryani and exiled to Egypt, where he remained until President Ali Abdullah Saleh invited him to return in the early 1980s.

Six different men held the position of Prime Minister under Al-Sallal, including Al-Sallal himself three times. He held both titles from the formation of the republic until 26 April 1963, when he appointed Abdul Latif Dayfallah, as well as briefly in 1965 and from 18 September 1966 until the end of his presidency. Abdul Rahman al-Eryani, al-Sallal's successor to the presidency in 1967, served as Prime Minister in 1963 and 1964. Hassan al-Amri held the post three times.

External links

• Media related to Abdullah as-Sallal at Wikimedia Commons